Ben & Hannah
Meagan & Aaron
Dave & Janna
I just noticed that I tend to label couples starting with whichever one I know the best! Makes sense I suppose :D
~H.M.
November 26, 2008
Engagement Photos
I have finally landed a couple of my first freelance photography jobs ever! They are small gigs, but they are a start! I want to share a couple of my favorite shots. I hope you enjoy them!
Ben & Hannah
Meagan & Aaron
Dave & Janna
I just noticed that I tend to label couples starting with whichever one I know the best! Makes sense I suppose :D
~H.M.
Ben & Hannah
Meagan & Aaron
Dave & Janna
I just noticed that I tend to label couples starting with whichever one I know the best! Makes sense I suppose :D
~H.M.
November 19, 2008
Reflections from Hosea
I've been reading through the book of Hosea and I am struck by how relevant it is to today. Reading this passage made me think of America and how we have turned away from God:
Hosea 4:1-3
1 Hear the word of the LORD, you Israelites,
because the LORD has a charge to bring
against you who live in the land:
"There is no faithfulness, no love,
no acknowledgment of God in the land.
Reading farther I am touched by the image of God chasing after His people, desiring them to turn back even though they continue to be adulterous.
Hosea 4:16
16 The Israelites are stubborn,
like a stubborn heifer.
How then can the LORD pasture them
like lambs in a meadow?
God wants to provide for us with such tenderness and we just throw His love back in His face.
This part really gets to me, and makes me weep as I grasp the extreme measures taken by God in His desire to have us return to Him.
Hosea 5:12-15
12 I am like a moth to Ephraim,
like rot to the people of Judah.
until they admit their guilt.
And they will seek my face;
in their misery they will earnestly seek me.
And yet, Israel continued to be unfaithful. But at the end God, out of His HOLINESS and in the face of His WRATH chooses to be merciful. Why? I still cannot understand.
Hosea 11:8-9.
8 "How can I give you up, Ephraim?
How can I hand you over, Israel?
How can I treat you like Admah?
How can I make you like Zeboiim?
My heart is changed within me;
all my compassion is aroused.
9 I will not carry out my fierce anger,
nor will I turn and devastate Ephraim.
For I am God, and not man—
the Holy One among you.
I will not come in wrath.
This passage also makes me think of the U.S.
Hosea 13:15-16
15 even though he thrives among his brothers.
An east wind from the LORD will come,
blowing in from the desert;
his spring will fail
and his well dry up.
His storehouse will be plundered
of all its treasures.
Hosea 7:13
13 Woe to them,
because they have strayed from me!
Destruction to them,
because they have rebelled against me!
I long to redeem them
but they speak lies against me.
Hosea 8:7
7 "They sow the wind
and reap the whirlwind.
The stalk has no head;
it will produce no flour.
Were it to yield grain,
foreigners would swallow it up.
Hosea 9:7
7 The days of punishment are coming,
the days of reckoning are at hand.
Let Israel know this.
Because your sins are so many
and your hostility so great,
the prophet is considered a fool,
the inspired man a maniac.
Oh God have mercy on us. Do not destroy the righteous with the unrighteous!
I lost about $4,000 of my mutual fund due to the current economic crisis. I withdrew the remainder out of fear of losing it all. It's strange though, even though I know it's a sizable amount of money, I don't really feel as if my circumstances have changed at all. I am still a child of my Heavenly Father, resting in the shadow of His wing within the comfort of His pasture. I would not exchange this wealth for any of the comforts of the world!
Praise be to God, who loves and has mercy on unworthy sinful man!
~ H.M.
Hosea 4:1-3
1 Hear the word of the LORD, you Israelites,
because the LORD has a charge to bring
against you who live in the land:
"There is no faithfulness, no love,
no acknowledgment of God in the land.
2 There is only cursing, lying and murder,
stealing and adultery;
they break all bounds,
and bloodshed follows bloodshed.
3 Because of this the land mourns,
and all who live in it waste away;
the beasts of the field and the birds of the air
and the fish of the sea are dying.
Reading farther I am touched by the image of God chasing after His people, desiring them to turn back even though they continue to be adulterous.
Hosea 4:16
16 The Israelites are stubborn,
like a stubborn heifer.
How then can the LORD pasture them
like lambs in a meadow?
God wants to provide for us with such tenderness and we just throw His love back in His face.
This part really gets to me, and makes me weep as I grasp the extreme measures taken by God in His desire to have us return to Him.
Hosea 5:12-15
12 I am like a moth to Ephraim,
like rot to the people of Judah.
13 "When Ephraim saw his sickness,
and Judah his sores,
then Ephraim turned to Assyria,
and sent to the great king for help.
But he is not able to cure you,
not able to heal your sores.
14 For I will be like a lion to Ephraim,
like a great lion to Judah.
I will tear them to pieces and go away;
I will carry them off, with no one to rescue them.
until they admit their guilt.
And they will seek my face;
in their misery they will earnestly seek me.
And yet, Israel continued to be unfaithful. But at the end God, out of His HOLINESS and in the face of His WRATH chooses to be merciful. Why? I still cannot understand.
Hosea 11:8-9.
8 "How can I give you up, Ephraim?
How can I hand you over, Israel?
How can I treat you like Admah?
How can I make you like Zeboiim?
My heart is changed within me;
all my compassion is aroused.
9 I will not carry out my fierce anger,
nor will I turn and devastate Ephraim.
For I am God, and not man—
the Holy One among you.
I will not come in wrath.
This passage also makes me think of the U.S.
Hosea 13:15-16
15 even though he thrives among his brothers.
An east wind from the LORD will come,
blowing in from the desert;
his spring will fail
and his well dry up.
His storehouse will be plundered
of all its treasures.
16 The people of Samaria must bear their guilt,
because they have rebelled against their God.
They will fall by the sword;
their little ones will be dashed to the ground,
their pregnant women ripped open."
Hosea 7:13
13 Woe to them,
because they have strayed from me!
Destruction to them,
because they have rebelled against me!
I long to redeem them
but they speak lies against me.
Hosea 8:7
7 "They sow the wind
and reap the whirlwind.
The stalk has no head;
it will produce no flour.
Were it to yield grain,
foreigners would swallow it up.
Hosea 9:7
7 The days of punishment are coming,
the days of reckoning are at hand.
Let Israel know this.
Because your sins are so many
and your hostility so great,
the prophet is considered a fool,
the inspired man a maniac.
Oh God have mercy on us. Do not destroy the righteous with the unrighteous!
I lost about $4,000 of my mutual fund due to the current economic crisis. I withdrew the remainder out of fear of losing it all. It's strange though, even though I know it's a sizable amount of money, I don't really feel as if my circumstances have changed at all. I am still a child of my Heavenly Father, resting in the shadow of His wing within the comfort of His pasture. I would not exchange this wealth for any of the comforts of the world!
Praise be to God, who loves and has mercy on unworthy sinful man!
~ H.M.
November 12, 2008
Bursting from a new "Awakening"
I do not know how to begin to express the transformation that has occurred in my life, which got kicked off during the summer and is now charging full speed ahead. I also do not know where it will take me, or when or where it will end, which I hope it never does!
As the end of my undergraduate study loomed closer, I stressed, sweated and scrambled to find a direction for my life. The pathetic plans I threw up on the drawing board were too forced, spur-of-the-moment, not reflective of true self, and quite frankly - desperate. Included in this mix was my hanging on to a relationship in hopes that it would provide stability and security. I am now so grateful that God forced me to be still for a while longer and seek Him. I decided to return to Venezuela immediately following graduation and spend nearly 3 months investing time in my family and their ministry, but also seeking to know and understand the direction God had in store for my life. All in all it was a productive summer of renewal, self-discovery, and God-pursuing. I read a number of books including My Heart in His Hands (a biographical work on Ann Judson, the first American missionary woman), Stepping Heavenward, Three Steps Forward, Two Steps Back, Discovering God's Will, Dating with Integrity, What Color is Your Parachute, and a good start on the Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer, which I intend to continue and finish very shortly. During those months, my heart and soul returned to rest while my mind prepared to dive into the most exciting adventure of its young life.
Back in the U.S., after toying with ideas of going to nursing school or studying applied linguistics, I settled down working part-time while trying to decide on a course of action for my future. The ball got rolling through The Truth Project, a series my young adults group from church was going through. My hunger and thirst for an all-encompassing reality of life began to be fed, awakening the dormant intellectual and scholar residing inside. I ate up every single one of the sessions I went to, feverishly taking notes, as I realized how the truth of Christianity and the Gospel was relevant to all spheres of life. While the information presented supplemented the foundational knowledge I already possessed, I realized my repertoire of theology, philosophy, politics and law was quite scant and I eagerly desired to enhance it. The next thing I tackled was Total Truth, an excellent work by Nancy Pearcey that I had sitting around but hadn't gotten around to reading. The subtitle of the book is: Liberating Christianity from its Cultural Captivity. I have been learning the dire importance of a solid biblical/Christian worldview. It has been through reading Total Truth that I feel my eyes have been opened to the universal truth of the gospel, the uttermost authority of God and His word, the complete fatality of any solution not beginning and ending with Christ and what He did on the cross. (Note: this is something I have already grasped in my heart and soul, but it has come full circle by grasping it in my mind, with the delightful realization that Christianity is also intellectually satisfying).
Somewhere along the line, an old repressed desire burst out into the light. I had long debated over the possibility of going to law school, but had firmly shut it out of my mind time and time again because it seemed too far-fetched, too pricey or too hard for me. But with God nothing is impossible! Now more than ever I am convinced of my inability to do anything on my own. But I know that my skills, talents and desires are God-given, including any and all opportunities, and I am equally convinced that He is able to do all things through me if He so desires. I just wish to be His most humble servant. In addition to studying for the Law School Admissions Test (LSAT) and getting everything ready to apply to law schools, my heart, soul and mind have come alive within me as I have never yet experienced. I am hungry to increase my learning, knowledge and understanding of many topics as listed above - law, philosophy, politics and theology. There is so much I still desire to know. I am so grateful to have been lifted out of the pit I was in and thankful that I have a goal to pursue. God has taken me from the miry clay; He has set my feet upon a rock!
What I have managed to put together here is just a scratching on the surface of what's going on inside, but I am on a new schedule where I go to bed at a decent hour and am growing weary at this late hour of 10 p.m.! It is also perhaps more information in one blog post than any normal person would like to read. I will end with some verses that model what's going on or that have encouraged/inspired me in this change in my life.
James 1:2-5 "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him."
(my theme verse of the year!)
Proverbs 4:7 - "Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom.
Though it cost all you have, get understanding."
Proverbs 19:8 - "He who gets wisdom loves his own soul;
he who cherishes understanding prospers"
Matthew 22:37 - Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'"
Jeremiah 29:13&14a - "You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you," declares the LORD, "and will bring you back from captivity."
Romans 12:2 - "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will."
2 Corinthians 3:5&6 - "Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God, who also made us adequate as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life."
And last but not least, all of 2 Corinthians 5 is great but specifically verses 16-21: "So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Thank you for endowing my humble blog with your readership.
~H.M.
Soli Deo gloria!
As the end of my undergraduate study loomed closer, I stressed, sweated and scrambled to find a direction for my life. The pathetic plans I threw up on the drawing board were too forced, spur-of-the-moment, not reflective of true self, and quite frankly - desperate. Included in this mix was my hanging on to a relationship in hopes that it would provide stability and security. I am now so grateful that God forced me to be still for a while longer and seek Him. I decided to return to Venezuela immediately following graduation and spend nearly 3 months investing time in my family and their ministry, but also seeking to know and understand the direction God had in store for my life. All in all it was a productive summer of renewal, self-discovery, and God-pursuing. I read a number of books including My Heart in His Hands (a biographical work on Ann Judson, the first American missionary woman), Stepping Heavenward, Three Steps Forward, Two Steps Back, Discovering God's Will, Dating with Integrity, What Color is Your Parachute, and a good start on the Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer, which I intend to continue and finish very shortly. During those months, my heart and soul returned to rest while my mind prepared to dive into the most exciting adventure of its young life.
Back in the U.S., after toying with ideas of going to nursing school or studying applied linguistics, I settled down working part-time while trying to decide on a course of action for my future. The ball got rolling through The Truth Project, a series my young adults group from church was going through. My hunger and thirst for an all-encompassing reality of life began to be fed, awakening the dormant intellectual and scholar residing inside. I ate up every single one of the sessions I went to, feverishly taking notes, as I realized how the truth of Christianity and the Gospel was relevant to all spheres of life. While the information presented supplemented the foundational knowledge I already possessed, I realized my repertoire of theology, philosophy, politics and law was quite scant and I eagerly desired to enhance it. The next thing I tackled was Total Truth, an excellent work by Nancy Pearcey that I had sitting around but hadn't gotten around to reading. The subtitle of the book is: Liberating Christianity from its Cultural Captivity. I have been learning the dire importance of a solid biblical/Christian worldview. It has been through reading Total Truth that I feel my eyes have been opened to the universal truth of the gospel, the uttermost authority of God and His word, the complete fatality of any solution not beginning and ending with Christ and what He did on the cross. (Note: this is something I have already grasped in my heart and soul, but it has come full circle by grasping it in my mind, with the delightful realization that Christianity is also intellectually satisfying).
Somewhere along the line, an old repressed desire burst out into the light. I had long debated over the possibility of going to law school, but had firmly shut it out of my mind time and time again because it seemed too far-fetched, too pricey or too hard for me. But with God nothing is impossible! Now more than ever I am convinced of my inability to do anything on my own. But I know that my skills, talents and desires are God-given, including any and all opportunities, and I am equally convinced that He is able to do all things through me if He so desires. I just wish to be His most humble servant. In addition to studying for the Law School Admissions Test (LSAT) and getting everything ready to apply to law schools, my heart, soul and mind have come alive within me as I have never yet experienced. I am hungry to increase my learning, knowledge and understanding of many topics as listed above - law, philosophy, politics and theology. There is so much I still desire to know. I am so grateful to have been lifted out of the pit I was in and thankful that I have a goal to pursue. God has taken me from the miry clay; He has set my feet upon a rock!
What I have managed to put together here is just a scratching on the surface of what's going on inside, but I am on a new schedule where I go to bed at a decent hour and am growing weary at this late hour of 10 p.m.! It is also perhaps more information in one blog post than any normal person would like to read. I will end with some verses that model what's going on or that have encouraged/inspired me in this change in my life.
James 1:2-5 "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him."
(my theme verse of the year!)
Proverbs 4:7 - "Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom.
Though it cost all you have, get understanding."
Proverbs 19:8 - "He who gets wisdom loves his own soul;
he who cherishes understanding prospers"
Matthew 22:37 - Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'"
Jeremiah 29:13&14a - "You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you," declares the LORD, "and will bring you back from captivity."
Romans 12:2 - "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will."
2 Corinthians 3:5&6 - "Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God, who also made us adequate as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life."
And last but not least, all of 2 Corinthians 5 is great but specifically verses 16-21: "So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Thank you for endowing my humble blog with your readership.
~H.M.
Soli Deo gloria!
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